For years, the Islamist group has maintained its headquarters in Damascus and has received both monetary and military support from the al-Assad regime. But in an apparent nod to changing regional politics, Hamas is distancing itself from its long-time patron. In recent weeks Hamas personnel and their families have left Syria and in the announcement of his first official trip outside Gaza since 2007, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh noticeably did not have Syria on the list of countries that he plans to visit.

Pragmatists from Hamas party read the changing dynamics and probably came to conclusion that being part (to whatever degree) of Syrian chaos will not benefit the Gaza Palestinians and their democratically elected leaders.
Speculations (without any conformation) say, that the representation of the Gaza people which they operate in Damascus will be moved to Qatar.

Pragmatists from Hamas party read the changing dynamics and probably came to conclusion that being part (to whatever degree) of Syrian chaos will not benefit the Gaza Palestinians and their democratically elected leaders.
Speculations (without any conformation) say, that the representation of the Gaza people which they operate in Damascus will be moved to Qatar.

Pragmatists from Hamas party read the changing dynamics and probably came to conclusion that being part (to whatever degree) of Syrian chaos will not benefit the Gaza Palestinians and their democratically elected leaders.
Speculations (without any conformation) say, that the representation of the Gaza people which they operate in Damascus will be moved to Qatar.

In an annual report released on Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the top judicial body to rule on human rights violations in Europe, found that Turkey is by far the worst violator of human rights among the 47 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Unlawful killings, poor prison conditions, excessively long trials and limits on freedom of expression are among the alleged human-rights violations in Turkey that the U.S. State Department denounced in a recent report.

&#8220;Security forces committed unlawful killings; the number of arrests and prosecutions in these cases was low compared to the number of incidents, and convictions remained rare,&#8221; the State Department said late Friday in the section devoted to Turkey in its annual report on the status of human rights throughout the world.

U.S. officials also commented on the recent arrests of Turkish journalists, which came too late to be included in this report, saying they would be monitored and addressed in next year&#8217;s survey.

During the year human-rights organizations reported cases of torture, beatings and abuse by security forces. Prison conditions improved but remained poor, with overcrowding and insufficient staff training,&#8221; the State Department said in its 2010 human-rights report.

&#8220;The overly close relationship between judges and prosecutors continued to hinder the right to a fair trial. Excessively long trials were a problem. The government limited freedom of expression through the use of constitutional restrictions and numerous laws,&#8221; the State Department said.

&#8220;Press freedom declined during the year. There were limitations on Internet freedom. Courts and an independent board ordered telecommunications providers to block access to Web sites on numerous occasions,&#8221; it said in the report. &#8220;Violence against women, including honor killings and rape, remained a widespread problem.&#8221;

France sparked a diplomatic row with Turkey on Thursday by taking steps to criminalise the denial of genocide, including the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, prompting Ankara to cancel all economic, political and military meetings.

"I dont understand why France wants to censor my freedom of expression, Yildiz Hamza, president of the Montargis association that represents 700 Turkish families in France, told Reuters outside the National Assembly." What a ridiculous quote. Has Hamza ever heard of article 301 of the Turkish penal code? If you so much as suggest a genocide ever happened in Turkey you could be tried for a crime! That is the grossest censor of freedom of expression. Bravo France for standing by your Armenian community. You are an example for all.

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France passed a law recognising the killing of Armenians as genocide in 2001. The French lower house first passed a bill criminalising the denial of an Armenian genocide in 2006, but it was rejected by the Senate in May this year.

The latest draft law was made more general to outlaw the denial of any genocide, partly in the hope of appeasing Turkey.

For years, the Islamist group has maintained its headquarters in Damascus and has received both monetary and military support from the al-Assad regime. But in an apparent nod to changing regional politics, Hamas is distancing itself from its long-time patron. In recent weeks Hamas personnel and their families have left Syria and in the announcement of his first official trip outside Gaza since 2007, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh noticeably did not have Syria on the list of countries that he plans to visit.

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